I have to admit, I'm kind of torn about this. On the one hand, this looks like it's actually trying to do justice to the original Death of Superman story, really explore the character, set up his relationship with the universe around him, and basically tell a good story.

It looks like Nu-Shazam isn't in the movie, which is a plus. I hate the way these movies presented the character in Justice League movies, but I always felt that if Captain Marvel had backed Superman up during Doomsday's initial appearance, Superman wouldn't have died. He would have had the backing of a magically powered hero who was his physical equal, and together they would have won. If Nu-Shazam would have appeared in this movie, you just know he would have gotten his butt kicked to make Superman look better.

On the other hand, it is still the Nu-52 variants of the characters, which puts me off a little.

More than that, it feels weird having the classic Justice League be a part of this story, since one reason I felt the Death of Superman worked in the comics was that we had a second-string Justice League at the time. I've always thought that if we had an A-list League backing Superman up, then they would have won. To me, ultimately Doomsday is just a brute who's just enough above Superman that Superman will lose unless he goes all out and basically does suicide attacks on him. If you have an A-List team of League members supporting Superman and they all lose, leaving Superman to fight alone, then it goes back to one of my pet peeves about Superman being so far above the rest of the League that they're ultimately irrelevant. The only way it would work would be if they made it clear that the League weakened Doomsday enough that Superman could win at the cost of his lie, as opposed to Doomsday getting stronger as the fight progresses, with the League essentially making Doomsday enough of a threat to kill Superman.

Also, the idea of Doomsday being a greater threat than Darkseid is just silly.

And the original Superman Doomsday story wasn't all that great in the first place. Why do they have to keep revisiting this one fair-to-middlin' story.

It was one of the few comic book stories to receive national attention, and was a big deal to even non-comic readers. That by itself means that any Death of Superman works is going to receive some kind of attention and recognition. Since it also isn't a very complicated story (monster shows up, fights heroes, Superman and Doomsday eventually kill each other), the writers can also add whatever story they want around it with little trouble, giving them some creative freedom.

Yeah, in exchange for making Darkseid the kind of physical threat he should be, they completely got rid of his entire schemer personality.

As much as I did genuinely enjoy JLW, I could not take "Grunting King Kong Darkseid" seriously, especially once he was blinded and proceeded to start crawling around superfast on all fours. I kept imagining that it wasn't Darkseid, but a giant, mutated cousin of Zoidberg the League were fighting at that point.

Yeah, in exchange for making Darkseid the kind of physical threat he should be, they completely got rid of his entire schemer personality.

As much as I did genuinely enjoy JLW, I could not take "Grunting King Kong Darkseid" seriously, especially once he was blinded and proceeded to start crawling around superfast on all fours. I kept imagining that it wasn't Darkseid, but a giant, mutated cousin of Zoidberg the League were fighting at that point.

I personally couldn't stand Justice League War. Batman, Cyborg and the Flash were basically the only people acting remotely in character. Superman and Wonder Woman were turned into brain-dead, fight happy jocks. Hal Jordan went from cocky to suicidally stupid. And Billy Batson somehow managed to be both a jerk-ass, street smart thief, and a dumbass, unfunny superhero. The only thing I liked from Nu-Shazam was him convincing Cyborg that he was both still human and a hero. Apart from that, Bruce, Barry and Vic were the only characters who felt even marginally in character.

I personally couldn't stand Justice League War. Batman, Cyborg and the Flash were basically the only people acting remotely in character. Superman and Wonder Woman were turned into brain-dead, fight happy jocks. Hal Jordan went from cocky to suicidally stupid. And Billy Batson somehow managed to be both a jerk-ass, street smart thief, and a dumbass, unfunny superhero. The only thing I liked from Nu-Shazam was him convincing Cyborg that he was both still human and a hero. Apart from that, Bruce, Barry and Vic were the only characters who felt even marginally in character.

I don't know why I liked JLW. I just did. I had that "strong enjoyment" feeling at the end that I get whenever I genuinely like a film. And I got it again upon subsequent viewings. Not sure why, but I do really like that movie.

So the new Death of Superman animated film is out . . . and it's actually very good.

Superman is basically the classic version wearing the Nu-52 outfit. He's no longer the somewhat fight hungry super-jock, he's the polite, responsible and kind Superman we all know and love in an outfit few of us really care for. And you can say this for most of the League as well. The animation is VERY fluid, the fight scenes are incredibly engaging, the sub-plot with Clark and Lois is extremely well done and humanizing, Bibbo of all people is brought back and used effectively, Lex Luthor is a right evil bastard, and it sets up for a proper "Return of Superman" storyline, complete with the four Supermen.

I'd say the only thing that kind of annoyed me was how the League was treated in the movie. In the original comics, the League was full of secondary characters who were basically fodder for Doomsday, whereas here, we've basically got an A-List version of the League: Hal, Barry, Diana, Bruce, J'onn, Arthur, Carter . . . . . . . and Cyborg. And they fall just as easily to Doomsday as the League comprised of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, Bloodwynd and Maxima. To me, the classic League would have been able to handle Doomsday, with or without Superman, but especially with Superman. The only way it could have worked would have been if the League was defeat, but it was clear that their efforts wore Doomsday down enough that Superman would be able to overcome him. Here, Doomsday straight up owns the League, and his fight with Superman lasts longer than the fight with the rest of the Justice League combined.

I admit that's just one of my pet peeves, and in all honestly, Superman doesn't really "wear down" Doomsday anymore than the League did. But it does sort of come off as Superman is just more powerful than the rest of the League put together.

But that's a relatively minor quibble in the face of very solid animated film. I'd actually highly recommend this one. Who knows, maybe this will be turning point where the DC animated movies start to look more like their classic versions than the Nu-52 versions.

So the new Death of Superman animated film is out . . . and it's actually very good.

Superman is basically the classic version wearing the Nu-52 outfit. He's no longer the somewhat fight hungry super-jock, he's the polite, responsible and kind Superman we all know and love in an outfit few of us really care for. And you can say this for most of the League as well. The animation is VERY fluid, the fight scenes are incredibly engaging, the sub-plot with Clark and Lois is extremely well done and humanizing, Bibbo of all people is brought back and used effectively, Lex Luthor is a right evil bastard, and it sets up for a proper "Return of Superman" storyline, complete with the four Supermen.

I'd say the only thing that kind of annoyed me was how the League was treated in the movie. In the original comics, the League was full of secondary characters who were basically fodder for Doomsday, whereas here, we've basically got an A-List version of the League: Hal, Barry, Diana, Bruce, J'onn, Arthur, Carter . . . . . . . and Cyborg. And they fall just as easily to Doomsday as the League comprised of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, Bloodwynd and Maxima. To me, the classic League would have been able to handle Doomsday, with or without Superman, but especially with Superman. The only way it could have worked would have been if the League was defeat, but it was clear that their efforts wore Doomsday down enough that Superman would be able to overcome him. Here, Doomsday straight up owns the League, and his fight with Superman lasts longer than the fight with the rest of the Justice League combined.

I admit that's just one of my pet peeves, and in all honestly, Superman doesn't really "wear down" Doomsday anymore than the League did. But it does sort of come off as Superman is just more powerful than the rest of the League put together.

But that's a relatively minor quibble in the face of very solid animated film. I'd actually highly recommend this one. Who knows, maybe this will be turning point where the DC animated movies start to look more like their classic versions than the Nu-52 versions.

There was no teamwork with the League, just smash and get smashed. Wonder Woman did the best against Doomsday early on. I think I'd Green Lantern would have listened to Batman early on it would have been different in my opinion. I truly enjoyed this portrayal of Superman, it was a bright spot and way past time. I totally agree if Captain Marvel was there and portrayed correctly he and Supes would have curbed stomped Doomsday.